A £12m rehabilitation centre for blind veterans was unveiled yesterday at a converted convalescence home for shale miners.

St Dunstan’s, in Llandudno, includes a fully equipped gym, a sports hall and an art and craft workshop set in extensive grounds.

The building will include 14 rooms providing lower level care and nursing care for users of the new centre.

Other rooms will cater for up to 25 injured services personnel, staying for either a holiday or rehabilitation and training.

Craig Lundberg, 26, who lost his sight after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq in 2007, believes the centre will be massively beneficial to former services staff like him trying to regain their independence.

The former lance corporal with the 2nd battalion the Duke of Lancaster’s regiment, said: “There’ll be rooms here where people can come for respite and kitchens where they can learn independent living skills – which is what St Dunstan’s is all about.”

The centre, which was opened after demand for St Dunstan’s services expanded following the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, collected all its funding from donations.

Centre manager Mark Lovatt, a former RAF squadron leader, said: “It’s important to understand that once a St Dunstaner joins our charity they join for life.”

St Dunstan’s are looking for volunteers to work at the Llandudno centre as sighted guides, in the arts & crafts studio or to read the papers